Project leader: Franz Bernd Lang Mohamed Hijri
Sector: Environment
Budget: 7 655 786,00 $

Start date: 01 July 2011 End date: 30 June 2015

Mining activities, oil and gas extraction, agriculture and industrial processes can all contaminate soil, creating a significant world-wide problem. Efforts are underway to reduce the production of industrial and agricultural pollutants at their source, but this does not address the enormous legacy sites containing trace metals that can remain in the soil for millennia. Genome Canada is funding research into phytoremediation – a promising new biotechnology that uses plants to clean up pollutants in the soil. Part of the research involves sequencing selected microbes that are most effective in soil detoxification, which will place important new data in the public domain. Remediation services represent a market of over $30 billion in Canada and this sector has grown every year for the past decade. This project will, therefore, yield significant economic benefits for Canada, rehabilitate soil and create a healthier environment. The project will also develop a step-by-step methodology for sustainability assessments for site rehabilitation, including a toolkit for boards of directors and legal guidelines for governments and corporations.

 

Co-applicants:

Pierre André Université de Montréal
Gertraud Burger Université de Montréal
Francois Courchesne Université de Montréal
Geneviève Dufour Université de Montréal
Charles Greer McGill University
Suha Jabaji-hare McGill University
Simon Joly Université de Montréal
Michel Labrecque Université de Montréal
Thérèse Leroux Université de Montréal
Eric Montpetit Université de Montréal
Frédéric Pitre Université de Montréal
Marc St-Arnaud Université de Montréal
Hélène Trudeau Université de Montréal
Etienne Yergeau McGill University